Duffer Brothers

"We looked into the concern that was raised when we heard of the allegation on Thursday, and found no wrongdoing," Netflix said of crew member Peyton Brown's allegation of verbal abuse against women by the Stranger Things showrunners. "Maintaining a safe, respectful atmosphere on set is important to us, and we know it is to the Duffer Brothers as well.” The Duffer Brothers released their own statement, saying: “We are deeply upset to learn that someone felt uncomfortable on our set. Due to the high-stress nature of production, tempers occasionally get frayed, and for that, we apologize. However, we think it is important not to mischaracterize our set, where we believe strongly in treating everyone fairly regardless of gender, orientation, race, religion, or anything else. We remain totally committed to providing a safe and collaborative working environment for everyone on our productions.”

On International Women's Day, Peyton Brown, who apparently has worked as a grip on the shows Stranger Things and The Walking Dead, posted her allegations on Instagram, writing: "I personally witnessed two men in high positions of power on that set seek out and verbally abuse multiple women. I promised myself that if I were ever in a situation to say something that I would." Brown didn't name the Duffer Brothers, but when asked in the comments, "are you talking about the duffers?" She replied: "yes, I am." She went on to further say "there was yelling, there were insults, there was threats and people were even fired or forced to quit because of them." TV Guide contacted Netflix for comment, but has not yet received a response.

On the aftershow Beyond Stranger Things, the Duffer Brothers and 15-year-old actress Sadie Sink revealed that she “freaked out” when she learned on set that she had to kiss a guy for a scene, a kiss that wasn’t written in the script. As Amy Zimmerman points out, “the entire conversation, in which Sink repeatedly recalls feeling caught off-guard while the Duffers giggle, strikes an odd tone, particularly in light of ongoing conversations in Hollywood regarding the exploitation of underage actors and issues of consent.”

The hugely acclaimed Netflix series “had an almost impossible task when it came to following up on a first season that had near-universal acclaim,” says Katharine Trendacosta. “That it’s still engaging, gorgeous looking, and smartly written is a truly impressive feat. The show didn’t hit any reset buttons; it let every character grow and change, and it’s just remarkable. This is a show growing naturally into itself and does everything to make the nine-hour commitment worth it.”

Although the Duffer Brothers said last month that they had settled on four seasons for their Netflix series, executive producer Shawn Levy expects it to last five seasons. “Hearts were heard breaking in Netflix headquarters when the Brothers made four seasons sound like an official end, and I was suddenly getting phone calls from our actors’ agents,” Levy tells Entertainment Weekly. “The truth is we’re definitely going four seasons and there’s very much the possibility of a fifth. Beyond that, it becomes I think very unlikely.”

“Everything the way Netflix is approaching the marketing, the publicity, the licensing, the merchandising, those are all closer to a feature film tentpole franchise model than a second season of a television series,” says Stranger Things producer/director Sean Levy. Co-creator Matt Duffer adds: “We want people to argue about what season is better. I want the debate. I want the Toy Story debate!” ALSO: Stranger Things will visit the big city in Season 2.

“We’re thinking it will be a four-season thing and then out,” says Ross Duffer of the Duffer Brothers. PLUS: How M. Night Shyamalan was instrumental in the Duffer Brothers’ career, and fame hasn’t changed the Stranger Things kids.